Air bearing systems are particularly useful in situations where the speed of movement of one mechanical element relative to an adjacent element is so high that normal liquid or solid lubricants can no longer minimize and dissipate the heat of friction to a satisfactory degree. Air bearings have many advantages over other fluid lubricants in that they run cool with no need for a warming up period, have low or negligable frictional torque and need not be supplemented by a supply of liquid lubricant.
The efficacy of an air bearing is a function of the pressure (velocity) of the air and adequacy of its distribution across the surfaces to be separated. Air is normally supplied under high pressure through suitable conduits to one or more nozzles in a relatively stationary first element of a machine and each nozzle feeds air at a known rate to a depression or pocket in a surface of said first element which faces and is adjacent to a surface of a relatively movable second element of the machine. The film of air between the facing surfaces of the respective elements represents the bearing and it supports the load imposed by the second element, whether the relative movement is rotational or sliding.
The air supply nozzles may be formed by apertures in floating pads, with a slight freedom of movement in response to varying operating conditions, or they may be fixed in the stationary first machine element. The present invention relates to a nozzle of the fixed type.